Thursday, September 23, 2010

ANOTHER GIVEAWAY! ARC OF BEHEMOTH BY SCOTT WESTERFELD!

Sooooooo, since the lovely folks at Simon and Schuster Canada inadvertantly sent me an EXTRA ARC of the much anticipated Behemoth, I was given permission to GIVE MY EXTRA COPY AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

If you have not read Leviathan you can read my review here.  And here is the blurb on the 2nd in the trilogy:

The behemoth is the fiercest creature in the British navy. It can swallow enemy battleships with one bite. The Darwinists will need it, now that they are at war with the Clanker powers.



Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory.


Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what's ahead.

The release date for this book is October 5th, and that is when the contest will end!  Since I will be paying for shipping myself the contest is only open to US and Canada.  Here are the rules:
  • You must be a follower to enter
  • You can earn extra entries by tweeting and posting about the giveaway on your blog
  • US and Canada only
CONTEST ENDS MIDNIGHT MOUNTAIN TIME ON OCTOBER 5TH.  CLICK HERE TO ENTER!

Good luck!


Wednesday, September 22, 2010

REVIEW: CLOCKWORK ANGEL AND GIVEAWAY!

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Book one of The Infernal Devices trilogy
Hardcover 496 pages
Available now
Ages 14 and up

First of all I would like to send out a HUGE thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me an ARC of Clockwork Angel!  I feel very fortunate to have S and S in my life, and I am grateful for every book they send my way!

Clockwork Angel is the first in The Infernal Devices series and this thrills me to no end.  Cassandra Clare is the author of the extremely popular Mortal Instruments series, as well as a book I would love to read called "Geektastic, Stories from the Nerd Herd".  She is also a contributing author to two anthology type books "Vacations from Hell"  and "Zombies vs. Unicorns." 

The first sentence in this little gem had me at "hello"....."The demon exploded in a shower of ichor and guts."  Who doesn't love exploding showers of demon guts!  The story revolves around Tessa, Will and Jem.  Will is a super sexy mysterious bad boy (but not in the typical annoying sense) shadowhunter; Jem is the nice cute guy in the story; and Tessa Gray is a young woman who is being held against her will and discovering that she is not quite human.  Tessa's part of the story starts with her arriving in London searching for her brother but soon becomes  a prisoner of two extremely unattractive and uber creepy "women" called The Dark Sisters, and they are prepping her for her meeting with The Magister.  Meanwhile Tessa's beloved brother Nathanial is missing and Tessa is determined to find out what happened to him, even though the Dark Sisters insist he is very much alive... but won't continue to be if she does not do as they ask. 

Cassandra Clare's writing style is fantastic and she has created a very believable pseudo world of London in the 1800's, with very believable races of creatures and the laws by which they live.  I absolutely hands down LOVED... IT.  She even added a hint of the young love thing, but with a great amount of restraint that is very believable and easy to relate to.  Will is not so much the brooding bad boy as in many other YA novels, as he is a reckless, enthusiastic, loyal shadowhunter who is very misunderstood.  Jem, on the other hand, is very sweet and has Will's back no matter what.  I don't want to say too much more because I think that it might spoil the read for you all.  But trust me... it is AWESOME! 

Many in the blogosphere are asking the question TEAM WILL?  Or TEAM JEM?  I have to say Will all the way.  And what does that say about me??! 

HA!

If you would like a little more detail on the storyline you can click here for the blurb...

And here is the book trailer courtesy of Simon and Schuster Canada!




And now for the giveaway portion of the post!

Very simple... you click here and fill out the form, you must be a follower of my blog to enter, you can earn extra entries for tweets, posts on your blog and sidebar listings.  The contest is open worldwide as I am going to be ordering the book from Book Depository and paying for it myself and there will be no substitution.  If you win I will only order Clockwork Angel.  The contest ends October 15th.

GOOD LUCK!

Monday, September 20, 2010

MAILBOX MONDAY - ARC BY KATE MORTON!!! WOOT!

Mailbox Monday is a weekly bookish meme created by Marcia over at The Printed Page, but this month is being hosted by Kathy over at Bermudaonion!

Today I actually DID get a book in the mail!  I am super excited to be given an ARC of Kate Morton's latest book The Distant Hours.  I am currently reading The Forgotten Garden, which I am LOVING, and I can't WAIT to dive into this one!  THANK YOU to Anneliese from Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me this georgous book!

Here is the blurb from Amazon.com:

A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old house, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted 50 years before as a 13 year old child during WW II. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn’t been the same since her fiance jilted her in 1941.



Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in ‘the distant hours’ of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.


Isn't the cover GEORGOUS??!!!  Her covers are always beautiful, though.  Just look at The Forgotten Garden.
ANYway, The Distant Hours is available in stores November 9th, and I will have my review up a few days before then! 

What was in YOUR mailbox??

For more Mailbox Monday delights click here.

Friday, September 17, 2010

BLOG HOP FRIDAY!

Book Blogger HopI love the Blog Hop... It's right up there with Teaser Tuesday for me!

I love visiting new blogs, and checking up on some of my favourites.  It's such a great way to reconnect with everyone!

Click on the pic to join in on the fun!  And HAPPY HOPPING~!!!!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

In which I find myself drooling.

Okay, remember when I said that I tend to judge a book by its cover?  I'll admit it, I'm a total snob when it comes to book covers.  There are many many books that I have not picked up merely because of their cover.  FOR SHAME!  Eventhough I blather on endlessly to my 10 year old about not judging anything or anyone based on how they LOOK.  Sigh.  It's a problem.  But once again I am going to point to the fact that because I have the WONDERFUL people at Simon and Schuster Canada and a few other publishing houses, I am introduced to various titles in which I would otherwise might say, "Pah!" 

Ergo...  ============================>



If I saw this little ditty in the book store I would probably think it was some weird little graphic novel, and not even given it a second glance.  And in fact, it came in a box with some other ARC's and sat there barely even noticed crying in the corner.  At first I thought, "What the?"  and it went into the pile of still-to-be-read ARC's that seem to call me everyday from their corner of my family room. 

So then...

I am meandering around Facebook, when I should really be reading, and I notice that Scott Westerfeld author of Leviathan which I sort of liked (read:  OBSESSIVELY IN LOVE WITH) changed his status to read...and I'm paraphrasing here... I'm going to be doing reading from Zombies vs. Unicorn at the blah blah blah tomorrow.  I'm like.. WHAAAA?  And so I asked him if he wrote a story in there and he says yes. 

Here's me scrambling to grab the book. 

Here's me opening it for the first time eventhough I've had it since forever...

 and here's me:

Soooo, not only does Scott Westerfeld have a short story in this little number, but so does CASSANDRA CLARE and HOLLY BLACK... it is a veritable cornucopia of delightful authors. 

It is a zany anthology of sorts, of short stories... but so much more!  Here is the blurb:

In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths – for good and evil – of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

See what I mean?  GEMS, people, GEMS! 

It comes out September 21st and once I have a read thru I'll post my review..

HAVE A GREAT NIGHT! 

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

TEASER TUESDAY - CLOCKWORK ANGEL... again.

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading and ANYONE CAN PLAY ALONG!
  • grab your current read
  • flip to a random page
  • select 2 teaser sentences from anywhere on that page
  • TRY NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!  (Or you will recieve 50 lashes with a wet noodle.. I'm just sayin'.)
  • Please do include the name of the book and the author.
My teaser is from The Clockword Angel by Cassandra Clare.  I am ALMOST done this book, and I have to admit I do NOT want it to end!  In fact I was plowing through it and then I purposefully slowed down to savour every word.  I LOVE it.  I can't believe I have to wait AN ENTIRE YEAR for the next one!  Sigh.  At least she doesn't pull a "Gabaldon" and make us wait for 3 or 4 YEARS until the next installment.  The next book on my roster is to finish The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.  I actually was loving it but then somehow life got busy and I put it down a few months ago.  I am getting the ARC for her next one called The Distant Hours, so I thought I should get the first one done and review it like I was supposed to!

ANYway, without further adieu:

"You are not a monster," said Jem.  "Or a coward.  On the contrary, I was quite impressed by the way you shot at de Quincey.  You would almost certainly have killed him if there'd been any more bullets in the gun."





For more teasers click here...

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

TEASER TUESDAYS!

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB from Should Be Reading and anyone can play along!
  • Grab your current read
  • flip to a random page
  • select two teaser sentences from anywhere on that page
  • Please do not include any SPOILERS!!!  Or I will cry big salty tears.
  • And don't forget to include the author and title of the book so we can add it to our ever-growing TBR piles!
My teaser today is from the FANTASTIC book, "The Clockwork Angel" by Cassandra Clare.  This book has been such a great surprise.  You never know when you get an ARC how it is going to read. Normally in the store or on my Kindle I have a good look through and read a few pages before deciding whether or not to buy, but an ARC just arrives.. BAM... deliciously into my mailbox.  Sometimes they arrive and I hear angels singing, as in Behemoth.... other times I look and think, "Huh... normally I wouldn't give this a look at the store, but okay!"  And this one, I probably WOULD have looked at in Chapters, and probably even bought, but had no idea when I took it out of the box that it was going to be THIS GOOD.  Stellar, even.

ANYway, back to the teaser:

"Was it possible that he was the Magister?  Though anyone that looked like that wouldn't need to tie girls up and imprison them in order to get them to marry him."

Uh, HUH.  THAT'S what I'm talking about!  Along with being a great read taking place in a really cool unique world, it totally satisfies my criteria of making a dirty old woman happy.  SCHWING!  Now I think I definately will check our her other series "The Mortal Instruments"  starting with "The City of Bones." 

For more teasers click here.